Clothesline-fastener



F. C. REINHARD.

CLOTHESLINE FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED DEC.5. I919.

Patented Feb. 15, 1921 WITNE85E5 INVENTOR ,GPQ/MW fyKWW f 4 rr tres "earner FERDINAND c. REINHARD, 0 3 WEST rnr'rsisuncr, PENNSYLVANIA.

v CLOTHESLINE-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

Application med December 5, 1919. Serial No. 342,622

T 0 all whom it may concern;

Be it known that l, Fmznmann C. REIN HARD, a resident of West Pittsburg, 1n the illustrated. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the fastener shown attached to a'support, the view also shows the manner in' which a clothes linemay'be held by the fastener; and, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the,

fastener detached from its support.

The fastener includes three portions, namely, an; outwardly and upwardly extending hook' at its top around which a clothes line maybe drawn taut, outwardly extending parallel spring arms at its bottom, between which arms a clothes line may be clamped after having been drawn taut around the hook, and an intermediate portion connected to the hook and the spring arms or clamp and adapted to be firmly attachedto a support.

"While the fastener may be formed of any suitable'material, it is preferably made of a single strip of metal such as heavy gage wire. lVhen so constructed, the hook is preferably formed by doubling the central portion of the wire upon itself and shaping.

it to have an outwardly eXt-ending portion 1 and an up'wardly'extending. portion 2. The body or intermediate portion'3 of the fastener may be formed by bending the parallel portions of the 7 wire substantially at right angles to the hook portion 1; and, to prevent the fastener from turning sidewise when attached toa support, the lower ends of the intermediate portion may be flared outwardly as indicated at 41, the outwardly flared portions being adapted to bear against the support to which the fastener is :attached. I

'The spring arms or clamp are formed by bending the wire outwardly from the portion 4: to form 'adjacently' disposed parallel arms 5, heldyieldingly toward each other by support.

the resiliency of the material of which the fastener is made. The outer ends of the arms 5 are preferably bent laterally and turned rearwardly to form line engaging hooks 6 adapted to prevent the line from slipping fromthe end of the spring arms. As'will be seen the ends of the hooks 6 are preferably spaced from the arms 5 so that a line may be inserted between each end and its adjacent arm.

, In use the fastener may be attached to a post or other support 7 by means of a suitable clamp 8 which engages the intermediate portion 3 of the fastener, and whichmay be'secured to the post. 7 by fastening members, such as screws 9; To attach a clothes line 10 to the fastener, theme is first placedaround tl e hook 1, 2 and may then be drawn taut by pulling upon the line. When theline is thus stretched, and while so held by the person putting the line up, it is vpressed between the outer ends of the spring arms 5, which are effective to temporarily hold the line. While thus held, the line may be wrapped around and between the arms 5 in the form of a figure 8, asoindicated in the drawing. The free end of the line may then be looped around the'hook 1, 2, and from'such hook it will extend to the next By looping the line around and between the arms 5 in the manner just explained, either of the line sections leading from the hook 1, 2 may break and the other line section will not fall or become loosened.

That such is the case maybe readily under-I V stood by observing that the greater the ten-V sion placed upon one line section, the tighter the line will be bound between the arms 5.

In case it is desired to attach the end of a line to the fastener, such end may be knotted and the line placed between one of the hooks 6 and the adjacent arm 5, the knot being of such size that it may not be drawn between the hook and arm. The line may then be wrapped around and between the arms as indicated in Fig. land be looped over the hook 1, 9 It will of course be understood that the line may be engaged and fastened by the fastener otherwise than as has been particularly explained.

It will be observed of the clothes fastener that it may be very easily and inexpensivelymanufactured, and that it may be readily attached to the usualform of clothes line position, the fastener affords convenient post. hen thus attachedinits intended V means of stretching a clothes line and for securely fastening it after it has been stretched.

- According to the provisions of the patent statute, I have described the principle and manner of use of my invention together with the construction which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.

However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims,

my invention may be practised by other forms of construction than that specifically shownaand described herewith;

I claim: 1. A clothes line fastener adaptedto be rigidly attached to a support and when so attached comprising a linestretching hook i at itsupper end,"a pair of outwardly extend I 111g spring arms atits bottom forming'a linev 120'- clamp, said arms having free ends extending laterally outwardly, and an intermediate portion connecting said hook and clamp and adapted'to be secured in rigidly attached to a support and when so.

vertical positionto F por -1 j V 3 25A clothes linefastener adaptedto be attachedcomprising an outwardly and upwardly extendlng portion at the'top form- V a ing a line stretching hook, an outwardly extending pair of spring arms at the bot tom forming a line clamp, the outer ends of said arms being free and being turned rearwardly adjacent to but spaced from the outer sides of said arms,'and an "intermediate portion connecting said hook and clamp and adapted to be secured to a support.

3.-A clothes line fastener adapted to be forming a line clamp, the outerends ofsaid arms being free and beingturned rearwardly adjacent to but spacedfrom the outer sides of said arms, and an intermediate portion connecting said'hook and clamp 'and adapted I to be secured to a'support, said fastener be ing formed of asingle strip offmetal of which the central portion is the upper end of said hook and of which the endsare said ends ofthe spring arms. E

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set I my hand;

FERDINAND o'R INnARDQ l Witnesses: V

7 PA L N. ,CRITCHLOW,' V V HQWARD LJSNIVEnY. 

